Ed Sokolowski, Walworth County Fair Board president, dead at 72

Longtime Walworth County Fair Board President Ed Sokolowski, pictured in 2002 when he was named honorary fair marshal, died Dec. 15. Dan Plutchak/file photo

Longtime Walworth County Fair Board President Ed Sokolowski, pictured in 2002 when he was named honorary fair marshal, died Dec. 15. Dan Plutchak/file photo

ELKHORN -- Ed Sokolowski, whose steady hand guided the Walworth County Fair for nearly 20 years and made it one of the top attractions of its kind in the Midwest died Sunday at the age of 72.

He died at at St. Luke's Medical Center Milwaukee after an apparent heart attack, according to his obituary.

Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, 2013 at Haase-Lockwood Funeral Home in Elkhorn, 730 N. Wisconsin St.. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013 at St. Patrick's, 107 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn.

Sokolowski was elected to the Walworth County Fair Board in 1983 and served as president since 2004. He also served 21 years as treasurer and during his years at Walworth County Fair, oversaw the truck and tractor pulls, open class antiques, antique car and tractor parade and the backstage and grandstand area.

He also worked as a bailiff at the Walworth County Judicial Center.

Sokolowski has attended the Walworth County Fair since 1957 when he was a young boy showing beef, dairy, and hogs in 4-H and FFA, according to news archives.

In 1959, he won the Grand Champion Landrace Gilt at the Wisconsin State Fair.

His passion, commitment, compassion and leadership have been recognized throughout Wisconsin.

In 1994, Sokolowski received the Outstanding Fair Person Award from the Wisconsin Association of Fairs. In 2006, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Association of Fairs Hall of Fame.

Sokolowski is a veteran of the Vietnam War and is a charter member of the Elkhorn Rotary Club.

Sokolowski and his wife Judy have two married daughters and are proud grandparents of five grandchildren.